Shikanoin Heizou investigates cases but is also as good a fighter as he is a sleuth. Here is our Shikanoin Heizou guide for Genshin Impact.
After the serious content drought that 2.7’s delay has brought to Genshin Impact, Hoyoverse is doubling down on teasers slated for two patches ahead of time. This time, Hoyoverse has revealed one of their upcoming playable characters for version 2.8, Shikanoin Heizou. First hinted at in one of Ayaka’s voice-overs, this member of the Tenryou Commission is apparently one of Inazuma’s finest detectives. With uncanny intuition and a spark of profound genius, Heizou can solve even the hardest of cases, which he proclaims even gods can’t solve. In this article, it’s our turn to solve the problem of Heizou’s unique gameplay and find out his best weapons, artifact sets, and team compositions.
Genshin Impact Guides: Abilities Overview
Shikanoin Heizou is a 4-star Catalyst-wielding Anemo character, who possesses a unique string of close-combat normal attacks, along with abilities that deal significant damage from a close distance. He has a notably shorter range than every other catalyst user but makes up for it with a ‘cleave’ effect as a byproduct of his close-range attacks. Because of this, Heizou can be played as a main DPS, or a main driver of Elemental Reactions similar to Tazer Sucrose.
Heizou’s Elemental Skill is called Heartstopper Strike. When tapped, it launches a swift attack that deals Anemo damage. When held, Heizou charges the ability and gains Declension stacks, which increases the final damage of the ability. Heizou can obtain up to 4 stacks of Declension, and when he gets full stacks, a Conviction effect will appear and will enhance the next Heartstopper Strike.
Heartstopper Strike has a surprisingly high damage multiplier for a 10-second cooldown ability, which hints at the potential of a DPS Heizou build. In combination with his first Ascension passive, Heizou can gain Declension stacks without having to charge the ability, which makes his gameplay smoother overall,
Heizou’s Elemental Burst is called Windmuster Kick. Heizou leaps into the air and performs a mighty kick, blasting a massive wave of Anemo straight ahead. If it hits enemies affected by an Element, they will shortly explode with the same element type, dealing minor damage.
Similar to Heartstopper Strike, this ability deals immense damage from something with a 12-second cooldown and 40 energy cost. If Heizou is built properly, this low-cooldown Burst can add a ton of DPS when executed with proper team rotation.
Best Weapons for Heizou
Skyward Atlas – lv90 | 674 ATK | 33.1% ATK Bonus
This weapon is arguably his best-in-slot for many of his roles. Heizou isn’t really worth being built as a support, as Sucrose and Jean can perform significantly better in that regard. Instead, a sub-DPS or Tazer Heizou can be quite powerful thanks to his multi-hit abilities and ‘cleaving’ basic attacks. Skyward Atlas provides top-tier damage, along with a passive that synergizes well with his play style.
The Widsith – lv90 | 510 ATK | 55.1% Crit DMG
The Widsith is widely considered one of the best catalysts in the entire game, even beating some of the 5-star catalysts. Its biggest downside is building a rotation around the 30-second CD of the weapon’s passive, which is honestly not that easy to find. Luckily for Heizou, his rotations are so brief that he doesn’t have to waste time waiting for the weapon’s CD to activate again. On paper, every other rotation of Heizou (and his team) should have the Widsith’s buff up for him.
Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers – lv90 | 401 ATK | 35.2% HP
If all else fails, this one won’t. Thrilling Tales is so strong that you can slap it on almost any catalyst user, and suddenly have an amazing support character for your team. If you don’t own a Sucrose or use her in a different team, then it’s not too bad to build a supportive Heizou. There’s a very minimal investment with this build and is very accessible for newer players.
Best Artifact Sets for Heizou
4-piece Viridescent Venerer
2 Piece: Anemo DMG Bonus +15%
For almost all Anemo characters, there’s no artifact set better than this, and Heizou is no exception. It increases Anemo damage, along with the Elemental damage of the other characters in your team. This is especially strong for Tazer Heizou, who can simultaneously swirl Hydro and Electro at the same time.
Best Team Compositions for Heizou
Tazer Heizou
This comp is very similar to Tazer Sucrose, but feels more natural to play due to Heizou’s close-combat play style. The main characters to bring in this comp are Xingqiu for Hydro, Raiden or Beidou for Electro, and Fischl for single-target damage. This comp is very accessible for new players and doesn’t require any limited characters or weapons.
Cryo Heizou
Unlike Tazer which is dirt cheap, Cryo Heizou is a whale comp that consists of two limited 5-star characters and requires heavy investment. The star of this comp is Shenhe, who provides the massive Cryo damage for Heizou’s swirls. You also want to have Ganyu’s Burst to keep providing Cryo, which Heizou will swirl, that also gets enhanced by Shenhe’s Quills. You can also have Yun Jin provide more Normal Attack damage for Heizou, or Kazuha to provide more Elemental DMG Bonus. It’s a weird comp that you might not totally understand at first, but that’s the complicated nature of Shenhe’s abilities.
Classic Anemo Support
Thrilling Tales + 4-piece VV = Problem Solved. That’s basically how Sucrose worked which solidified her status as a very accessible but powerful support, and the same goes for Heizou. However, Sucrose has talents and constellations which further supports her team, while Heizou does not, which is a bummer. Maybe only do this if you don’t have a Sucrose at all.
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